Zuckerberg and Jobs talk Ping and Facebook over dinner

We don’t know Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, but we get the distinct impression that neither of them are particularly fond of small talk. So when Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, and Jobs, Apple’s founder, meet up for dinner, it’s worth taking note. The LA Times reports that the two had dinner at Jobs’s house a couple weeks ago to discuss Ping, Apple’s new music social network. A tipster spotted the two walking in Palo Alto.

Jobs was likely trying to work out a deal with Zuckerberg so that Ping, Apple’s new music social network, can integrate with Facebook. Though Jobs touted Facebook integration when he announced the service, Facebook shut off Connect for Ping soon after launch. Facebook Connect is free to most businesses, but for a company with a user base as large as Apple’s, Facebook requires a deal. The two companies negotiated for at least 18 months, but could not reach a deal before Ping’s release.

In September, Jobs commented on the lack of a deal, calling Facebook’s terms too “onerous,” or difficult to comply with. Speaking with the AFP, he described Ping as: “sort of like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes.”

Currently, the service does not connect with any social networks, making it one of the most unsocial social platforms around. A partnership with Facebook could benefit both companies, provided a fair deal can be worked. Ping is already used by more than 1 million users in 23 countries, but could greatly benefit by integrating into Zuckerberg’s 500-million-strong Facebook platform.